of
preposition /əv/, strong form /ɒv/
/əv/, strong form /ʌv/
Idioms - belonging to somebody; relating to somebody
- a friend of mine
- the love of a mother for her child
- the role of the teacher
- Can't you throw out that old bike of Tommy's?
- the paintings of Monet
- belonging to something; being part of something; relating to something
- the lid of the box
- the director of the company
- a member of the team
- the result of the debate
- coming from a particular background or living in a place
- a woman of Italian descent
- the people of Wales
- relating to or showing somebody/something
- a story of passion
- a photo of my dog
- a map of India
- used to say what somebody/something is, consists of or contains
- the city of Dublin
- the issue of housing
- a crowd of people
- a glass of milk
- used with measurements and expressions of time, age, etc.
- 2 kilos of potatoes
- an increase of 2 per cent
- a girl of 12
- the fourth of July
- the year of his birth
- (old-fashioned) We would often have a walk of an evening.
- used to show somebody/something belongs to a group, often after some, a few, etc.
- some of his friends
- a few of the problems
- the most famous of all the stars
- used to show the position of something/somebody in space or time
- just north of Detroit
- at the time of the revolution
- (North American English) at a quarter of eleven tonight (= 10.45 p.m.)
- used after nouns formed from verbs. The noun after ‘of’ can be either the object or the subject of the action.
- the arrival of the police (= they arrive)
- criticism of the police (= they are criticized)
- fear of the dark
- the howling of the wind
- used after some verbs before mentioning somebody/something involved in the action
- to deprive somebody of something
- He was cleared of all blame.
- Think of a number, any number.
- used after some adjectives before mentioning somebody/something that a feeling relates to
- to be proud of something
- used to give your opinion of somebody’s behaviour
- It was kind of you to offer.
- used when one noun describes a second one
- Where's that idiot of a boy (= the boy that you think is stupid)?
Word OriginOld English, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch af and German ab, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin ab and Greek apo.
Idioms
of all
- used before a noun to say that something is very surprising
- I'm surprised that you of all people should say that.
of all the…
- used to express anger
- Of all the nerve!